Andrea Hefferan

Now that I’m in high school, everyone’s favorite question is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I’ve answered a million different things: doctor, journalist, lawyer, therapist, PR officer, neuroscientist; the honest answer is, I don’t know. But if I tell people that, they just give me a look of unconcealed disappointment. It’s been drilled into our heads that we need to take the classes that align with our desired career paths in order to be successful. If you want to be a doctor, Biomed and AP Bio is the way to go. Or if being an author has been your dream since you learned how to write, you should take classes like Creative Writing and AP Comp. But what if you don’t know what you want to be? What then? There is so much unnecessary pressure to know exactly who you want to be right now. But the thing is, high school can still be a fruitful experience despite not taking all of the classes that “go with” what you want to do. This is a time to experiment, to see what ...

I live my life in constant song. Singing, playing instruments, dancing, just listening and taking it all in. Each song is filled with emotion and a message to the listener. It's amazing how people can connect over what they listen to. My love for music began at an early age. My mom signed me up for classes when I was a toddler in which we sang songs and played instruments. At the age of six, I was ready to commit to my first official instrument. I wanted to play violin, but was convinced by my parents to play piano instead. I don't regret that choice, though when I reached sixth grade and got to choose an instrument for school, I picked the violin without hesitation. I still play both to this day. But taking up instruments was only the beginning. As I got older, the music I listened to became a substantial part of my identity. When I turned ten, I got an iPod, but more importantly, I got Spotify. Now I could listen to anything. No more downloading songs onto an mp3 player f...